Leaders of the Southern Baptist Conference's Abuse Reform Process Drive introduced plans Monday to launch a brand new, unbiased, nonprofit group to host a database of abuse pastors and implement different reforms.
They nonetheless want cash to function.
A brand new nonprofit group will oversee the ministry's proposed Examine web site itemizing abusive pastors, which has stalled because the abuse reform web site was launched final 12 months. There are at the moment no pastors' names listed on sbcabuseprevention.com.
Josh Wester, a North Carolina pastor who chairs the SBC's Abuse Reform Implementation Process Drive, mentioned the brand new nonprofit, which he known as the Abuse Response Fee, can be unbiased of the SBC's present construction.
He mentioned the duty of abuse reform is simply too large for the volunteer activity power to deal with alone. This led to a plan to start out a brand new group.
“Given the present authorized and monetary challenges dealing with the SBC and the Govt Committee, the creation of a brand new unbiased group is the one viable path to permit progress towards abuse reform to proceed unabated and immediately,” Wester instructed Southern Baptist members. The Govt Committee of the Conference throughout its common assembly on Monday night. “To do that, we’ve to do it collectively.”
Wester mentioned the Examine Ministry web site will record the names of Southern Baptists convicted of abuse and people who have civil convictions towards them. The duty power bumped into authorized and monetary delays in releasing these names, Wester mentioned in his report.
The fee may even create an expanded “ministry toolkit” to assist church buildings stop abuse and handle abuse when it happens. The toolkit will give church buildings an in depth plan to handle abuse, activity power members mentioned at Monday's assembly. They plan to have video-based church coaching supplies out there in time for the annual SBC assembly.
“We actually consider this might be a watershed second for the SBC,” mentioned activity power member Brad Eubank.
Throughout his remarks, Wester recounted the latest historical past of the SBC's abuse disaster, together with the 2019 “Religion Abuse” investigation Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Specific-Informationa follow-up investigation and report by Guidepost Options and a collection of reforms authorized in 2022 to assist stop abuse and look after survivors.
He mentioned reforms might lose momentum if Southern Baptists attempt to transfer on from the abuse disaster too shortly.
“However after a while since these occasions, we’re tempted to maneuver on,” he mentioned. “We’re sick and uninterested in the issue. In excessive circumstances, a few of us prefer to faux we by no means had an issue.”
Wester talked about two latest high-profile circumstances that present the extent of the issue — the settlement of a lawsuit involving legendary SBC chief Paul Pressler, who was accused of many years of alleged abuse, and the latest story of megachurch pastor and worship creator Aaron Ivey, who was fired for allegedly exchanging inappropriate texts with males and in a single case with a youngster.
Abuse is just not an enormous or small church downside — and never a theological downside, he mentioned.
“They're heroes from the previous like Paul Pressler,” he mentioned. “They're modern-day heroes like Aaron Ivey.
Wester's report contained no plan for everlasting funding for the brand new nonprofit. Presently, the work of the duty power is paid for from the funds put aside by the 2 mission boards of the SBC. He mentioned Brent Leatherwood, president of the SBC's Ethics and Spiritual Liberty Fee, plans to ask ERLC members to contribute to the brand new group.
He additionally mentioned SBC President Bart Barber and nationwide SBC chapter leaders help him, and he’s assured the plan will probably be prepared in time for the SBC's annual assembly in June.
“We’re asking President Barber and different SBC entity leaders to help ARITF in securing the monetary assets wanted to launch this new group,” he mentioned.
